this morning on "early today," mile high showdown as president obama and mitt romney prepare for tonight's crucial debate. our brand new poll numbers show where they stand. midair mess. another incident of loose seats on an american airlines flight, and now the company says it knows why. and shock value. there's a magician, david blaine. he goes high voltage in his blaine. he goes high voltage in his latest stunt. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with a high stakes debate. all eyes turn to denver for

tonight's first presidential debate of the 2012 race, and a new nbc news wall street journal poll finds president obama is holding on to his national lead, but not by very much. 49% of likely voters favor the president while 46% prefer mitt romney. that's only a 3% edge for obama which is within the survey's margin of error, but when it comes to a poll of registered voters the president widens his lead over romney to 7 points, 51% to 44. and finally they say the nation is headed in the right direction. 40%. meanwhile, both candidates took a break from their debate prep on tuesday to make a few unscheduled stops. nbc's steve handlesman reports from denver. >> reporter: the pressure is intense. president obama took time out for a visit to hoover dam. >> it's spectacular and i've

never soon it before. >> reporter: mitt romney grabbed a burrito bowl. doug hudson, andrew lunt kin run bicycle companies in colorado. they took me out to red rocks. these guys will watch the debate, andrew hoping for a break through by his candidate, mitt romney. >> i want him to talk about conservative values, especially economically, em powering small businesses. >> reporter: chris used to vote republican. not anymore. >> what really changed my mind recently is it seems to have gotten away from taking care of the little guy. >> reporter: doug is undecided. i'd like to see some details both from romney and obama mainly on tax policy. >> reporter: vice president biden charged team romney would hike middle class tax. >> how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that's been buried the last four years. >> reporter: the republicans jumped on that. buried by obama?

>> vice president biden said just today said that the middle class over the last four years has been, quote, buried. we agree. that means we need to stop digging by electing mitt romney the next president of the united states. >> reporter: that's the kind of zinger sure to be heard at debate number one. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, denver, colorado. of course tonight nbc is going to have complete coverage of this first presidential debate. it will be anchored by brian williams along with the best political team in the business. it all starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. pacific. elsewhere, a judge in pennsylvania has blocked the state's stricter voter i.d. law from taking effect this november. after weeks of protests, the ruling means voters in pennsylvania will not have to show a state approved i.d. to cast ballots on election day. the judge said he was concerned that the law could prevent some people from voting.

stricter voter i.d. laws in four states remain, but tougher laws in at least six other states were either shelved or watt terd down. florida, ohio and of course now pennsylvania. american airlines now says it knows why passenger seats broke loose causing a pair of emergency landings. the airline originally called for eight of its planes to be inspected but later ordered 47 of its aircraft to be checked. american blames the problem on clamps that were supposed to hold the seats in place but were not properly installed. meanwhile, american and its pilots union continue a contentious renegotiation over its labor agreement. both the airline and the union representing its mechanics deny labor disputes play any role in the seat problem. here's a look at stories making news today in america. we are going to begin in minnesota where a wheelchair bound suspect faced a brutal

beating. the department has placed that officer on administrative leave and requested he be charged with assault. next to texas where a passerby sprang into action to help a driver trapped in his burning car. look at that, the good samaritan pulled the driver from the vehicle just before it became fully engulfed in flames. both men survived without any injuries miraculously. in rhode island, luck may be the only way to describe how a female poodle mix survived being run over. the poosh was wedged in the grill of the vehicle for 11 miles. the dog's heroin ordeal came to an end when another driver spotted her legs. susie the miracle dog is just fine as you see there and has since been reunited with her owners. finally, this is a story that's trending big all across the blog owe fear. south carolina family won't be

hitting the like button on a few photos they've discovered. the pictures were taken from a party. the main culprits are actually classmates of the kids who live in the home. interesting. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. >> caught. all i can say is caught. >> good thing they didn't have facebook when i was 17. >> big trouble at lynn berry's house. good morning, everyone. as far as what we're dealing with, its a' a nice, warm, mild morning. humid. 71 in washington, d.c. yesterday was very humid through the mid-atlantic area. appreciate it. if you like these warm temperatures, they won't last. we have cold air that's going to arrive during the next two to three day period from canada. it's bottling itself up. there will be showers in north florida on and off during the day today. with that humid air mass up the eastern seaboard. there's a lot of fog.

you want to give yourself a little extra time. as far as the cold air, it's beginning to show itself. now some of that rain in northern montana, changing over to snow. that's the rain. maine zul la to helen in a, expect big changes. rainy weather, higher elevations. billings, 46. everywhere else it's a nice, mild day across the central plains. enjoy it while it lasts. let's take a look at the weather outside your window. areas like indianapolis to chicago, that area of low pressure is sitting to your south. kind of sitting there and spinning. it will keep you kind of cloudy. you may see a little bit of drizzle and showers. could even see a few showers and storms mid-atlantic later today. big changes everyone by the weekend should experience a cooldown. coming up, tech tight tall zule, fear bounces back, and the city that's cracking down on snacks. i don't like the sound of that. your early morning business

headlines are straight ahead. plus, a heated exchange between nicki minaj and mariah carey stirs up some drama on the set of "american idol." you're watching "early today".

now here are some of your top headlines this morning. the department of homeland security is under fire for spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an anti-terror program tracking u.s. citizens. a bipartisan senate report claims dozens of so-called fusion intelligence centers have come up with mostly useless information. secretary janet napolitano's office calls the report misleading. vice president joe biden's airplane, air force 2, had a pair of problems. in charlotte the flight had to do a go around due to a thunderstorm cell. later it was diverted from andrews air force base to dulles

due to a low cloud ceiling. pope benedict's former butler declared his innocence yesterday against charges he stole personal documents from the pontiff however he admitted photocopying the pope's private correspondence. vatican police testified they found thousands of pages of documents inside his apartment. also in vatican city, a dramatic but unrelated protest. a man climbed onto the dome of st. peter's bassilica unfurling a protest bannister against italy's prime minister. at last report he was still tlup. and after checking out a tip, police near detroit say missing teamster's boss jimmy hoffa is not buried in the driveway of a home. neither is anyone else. well, now here as an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,482 after losing 32 points yesterday. the s&p was up a point. the nasdaq gained six. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo,

the nikkei fell 39 points but in hong kong the hang seng added 47. well, a mixed day on the street could be the story for much of the week. on tuesday material stocks stalled the dow after the country's largest fertilizer company reported weak global demand. meanwhile, news that spain said they won't ask for a bailout lowered things. friday is the monthly jobs report. new congressional research finds almost 2400 people who received unemployment back in 2009 lived in households with annual incomes of $1 million or more. all right. back on the street, news that t-mobile parent dush tell com made by metro pcs sent the cell phone carrier soaring. auto sales were up 13% overall last month with toyota and honda

posting double digit gains. gm and ford sales were mostly flat. apple and samsung's bitter patent battle goes on. a temporary sales ban against the galaxy tab 10.1 which a jury recently found did not infringe on any apple patents has been lifted. meanwhile, samsung has now added the iphone 5 to its original filing against apple. new sales figures show a recovery in the american beer budget. shipments are up for the first time since 2008 thanks to the popularity of craft brews. watch out, mini cooper. "the wall street journal" reports nissan is bringing back the datsun. it will go for 3,000 bucks for a whole car. finally, rome is cracking down on snacking. that's right. a new law banning eating near the city's historical sites carries a fine of up to $650.

i would go broke there. well, coming up, triple crown cabrera. the most famous second plate appearance in history. and man hue on a role. one yankee plays hero twice in one night. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we've had a very good run of summer temperatures from the summer through the fall. things are about to change. your early morning forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. it is time now to get a check of what's new in sports. the magic number for the new york yankees is one. the yanks raul ibanez came in clutch twice last night. down 3-1 ibanez tied it with a pinch-hit two run homer and then had an rbi single in the 12th helping the yanks beat boston. a win tonight or a loss by the orioles will get new york the a.l. east crown. to oakland now where the a's johnny goems hit a home run and pitcher travis blakely allowed only one run over six innings to tie the rangers for first place in the a.l. west and force a winner take all game against texas tonight. all right. to miami, adam greenberg got his first at-bat since being hit in

the head by a pitch seven years ago in his only other mlb appearance. this, a lot of people have been following, he signed a one-day contract with the marlins before the game and came in as a pinch-hitter against the mets. everyone was rooting for him, but greenberg struck out in three pitches. the marlins did go in to win it, 4-3 in 11 innings. well, to kansas city where detroit's miguel cabrera picked up two hits and two rbis in the tigers 4-2 loss to the royals. with a point 331 average, 44 home runs and 139 rbis cabrera is on the brink of becoming the first triple crown winner in 45 years. we'll wait to see about that. finally in soccer, robin van percy scored two goals for manchester united extending their winning start to the seasons champions league after a 2-1 victory. >> announcer: early today sports

is brought to you by just for men auto stop. gray is over. coming up, idol unrest. it's nicki versus mariah. newton versus travolta are at it again. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus magician david blaine faces off with a 1 million volt lightening storm. you're watching "early today". ."

well, welcome back to "early today." as far as the forecast goes, some fog early this morning on the eastern seaboard. just some showers. the rain won't be as heavy as yesterday. north florida could be the exception. and then the cold front coming down. this will be the big change. warm day today, 70s and 80s in the midwest. tomorrow temperatures drop 20 to 30 degrees in many areas including minneapolis. chicago, two more days of more warmer, humid air and you'll get that big cooldown as we head towards the upcoming weekend. if you're watching us on wave 3 news in kentucky, learn how the roots go back to the city's earliest days at urban bourbon. that's your early event today. i don't know why i'm laughing. thanks so much. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. tmz reports trouble on the set of "american idol." new judge nicki minaj derailed auditions yesterday after

threatening to knock out fellow panelists mariah carey. minaj reportedly shouted, for the record we had to clean this up for tv, that she's not going to put up with her highness. >> she's jenny from the block so look out. the singers of the best selling did you et in pop music history, your ate the one that i want, are reuniting. grease co-stars have a holiday album coming out complete with a cheesy cover photo that bill fientsds adorable. proceeds will go to charity. >> i'm going to watch that movie today. liam knees san beared all on ellen. go,ly a.m. he stripped down to hot pink underwear, sat in a dunk tank chamber and raised $20,000 for breast cancer research. south core rean rap err seif al-adel is going to perform his dance topless. last week it was number two.

can we all keep our clothes on. >> i heard that into work today. >> you finally heard it. >> i finally heard it. >> have you seen the video? >> only what you've seen me. >> my goodness, bill. you never do your homework. >> i'm a work in progress. this comes to us from new york city where mi gish shan david blaine 34r57bs to show the world how he's going to shock himself, he's going to stand in the 1 million electrical volts for three days without any food. blaine briefly turned himself into a lightening rod to tease the new trick. his chain mail body suit and metal helmet will keep him safe inside the artificial lightening storm. doctors say the real danger is going to come from sleep deprivation and deadly gases. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today" just your first stop today on your nbc station. alright let's break it down.

mom, pop it. ♪ two inches apart, becky. two inches. t-minus nine minutes. [ ding ] [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls. let the making begin. ♪ too bad the guys aren't here we're clear. ok, swarm! swarm! hello [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies. let the making begin

the spotlight is on denver this morning as both mitt romney and president obama get ready to make their case to voters in the first presidential debate. and a live look outside, it is dense. the weather headline this morning is the fog blanketing parts of our region. tom kierein has what you can expect as you head out the door. first, i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm lynn yang.

police say rica richardson was a passenger in a toyota that crashed and burned in to flames after a chase earlier this year. three teens were killed. richardson was charged with car theft. he says he's not responsible and he's filed a civil suit against montgomery county police alleging officers are the ones really responsible for that crash. >> improperly handled the pursuit involving mr. richardson and the other occupants of the vehicle. we know that national and departmental standards were not followed. >> police maintain that they followed standard law enforcement procedure. this morning police are investigating a deadly stabbing. investigators say the man was stabbed around 8:00 at the enter session of 30th street and naylor road. the victim died there. police shut down part of naylor road for a few hours to search for clues. investigators say they're looking for multiple suspects.